


Playing Footsie

by Evil_Little_Dog



Series: Little Things [135]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist
Genre: Community: comment_fic, F/M, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-14
Updated: 2013-11-14
Packaged: 2018-01-01 14:06:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1044838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Little_Dog/pseuds/Evil_Little_Dog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summary:  Ed kicks.  Winry kicks back.  <br/>Disclaimer:  Everyone knows Arakawa owns all.  I just play in her ‘verse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Playing Footsie

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rei382](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rei382/gifts).



Trisha rolled her eyes at the yelp of, “Ow!” coming from the table. 

“Ed,” she said in gentle admonishment. 

“I didn’t do nothing!”

“Didn’t do anything,” Trisha corrected. “

“That’s what I said!” Her eldest glared at her, but he couldn’t keep a steady focus, glancing sideways, almost immediately. 

“He kicked me!” Winry pointed an accusatory spoon handle at Edward. 

“Yeah,” Alphonse lisped, not about to be left out of the squabble, and taking Winry’s side. Alphonse was fickle, and sometimes took Winry’s side, and sometimes his brother’s side, depending on the argument and the person he seemed to think would get in the most trouble. 

“Did not!” Edward stuck his tongue out at Winry and Alphonse, making a horrible face. 

“Did too!” Winry slapped the tabletop in response. 

Edward stood up in his chair, laying his hands on the table and leaning over it. “Did. Not!” 

“Edward!” Trisha joined them at the table. “Please sit back down.” When he ignored her, she swatted his backside. “No standing on your chair!” 

Edward yelped again, but sat down, glaring all around the table, and sulking over the rest of his meal. Trisha sighed, glad that peace reigned again, at least for the moment.

X X X 

“Cut it out, Ed.” Winry’s flat voice caught Pinako’s attention, though she didn’t even glance over her shoulder. Tapioca pudding meant a lot of stirring, and keeping one’s eye on the stove, so the milk didn’t burn. 

Edward asked, in all innocence, “Cut what out, Winry?” 

“You know what!” 

Pinako could imagine her granddaughter pointing her pencil at Edward. Whatever the kids were doing, Winry didn’t seem too upset, yet. 

“I do not,” Edward said, and Pinako glanced back at the table, strewn with Winry’s automail drawings, and Edward’s military paperwork. Alphonse sat on the chair at the head of the table, reading over something, Pinako wasn’t sure what. 

“You do, too.” Winry narrowed her eyes at him. “You kicked me!”

“You kicked me back!” 

“You’re such a brat!” Winry leaned across the table, wagging her pen at him. 

Edward raised his eyebrows, lowering his lids. “You’re the one being a bi - ”

“No swearing at the table,” Pinako warned. 

Winry slumped back into her chair, poking herself with her pencil when she folded her arms. She hissed her annoyance, and hopped out of her chair. Grabbing her papers off the table, she stomped out of the dining room. Pinako turned back to her pan of tapioca, stirring it again. 

“What’s wrong with her?” Edward growled. “She’s such a pain, sometimes.” 

“She’s probably worried.” Pinako wondered if she’d ever get used to Alphonse’s voice echoing around in that massive suit of armor. It’d been just a little over a year, since they tried to bring Trisha back. “She thought we’d be staying here in Risembool.”

Edward scoffed. “Like we’d want to do that! How are we going to find a way to get our bodies back here? Besides, there aren’t any military libraries around for,” he waved his hands in emphasis, Pinako could hear the gears in his automail humming, “forever! And you should’ve seen the ones in Eastern Command, Al! We could learn so much! We’re not gonna learn anything _here_.” He slammed his automail hand on the table for emphasis. 

“Mm,” Alphonse said, noncommittally. 

“You know I’m right.” 

“Yeah, but…” From the rattle of his shoulder plates, Alphonse must’ve spread his hands. “We’ve never been gone so long before.” 

Edward blew a raspberry. “We won’t be gone long. It’ll just be a few months, and we’ll have our bodies back.” 

Pinako stirred the pudding, thinking Edward’s hopes were probably going to come dashing down. Far be it for her to give him that bit of advice, though. As her own mother was fond of saying, “ _Ain’t nothin’ ever easy_ ”, and Edward was setting himself up for a heartbreak. Then again, he had to keep both Alphonse’s and his own spirits up, so she’d keep her mouth closed. And, when those boys were gone, she’d make sure Winry stayed so busy, she wouldn’t have time to miss them. 

X X X

Garfiel loved cooking for a crowd, and, with Winry’s childhood friends visiting, and the cute Xingese boy and his two guardians, not to mention Paninya, well, his home above the shop was completely filled. Alphonse and Paninya squeezed in together on a bench seat, while that darling Edward glared daggers at Ling, who held Winry’s hand in both of his, his sweet talk making her blush. 

“Hey, hey!” Edward kicked Ling’s chair, nearly toppling it. Ling’s guardians leaped up, daggers drawn and pointed at Edward’s throat. “Gick,” he said, eyes wide and teeth showing. 

“He didn’t mean anything by it, Fuu, Lan Fan,” Ling laughed, waving his hand at the pair in their black outfits and masks. “Maybe you should wait on the roof until the food’s ready!” 

They protested in Xingese, the younger of the two shooting Edward a glare that rivaled the one he gave Ling over Winry, but Ling wagged a finger at the window, and they left through it, not without a few backward glances and non-verbal threats. Ling righted his chair, scooting it closer to Winry. “Now,” he asked, “where were we?” He reached for her hand again, then yelped. “Someone kicked me!”

“Ed!” Winry protested. “I’m sorry, Ling, I don’t know what gets into him, sometimes!”

“Brother, be nice to our guests!” Alphonse scolded, half-rising to his feet. 

Edward sneered at them all, leaning his elbow on the table, partially blocking Winry from Ling’s view. “He’s not a guest, he’s a pest! How are you gonna pay me back for that food you ate, huh?” 

Ling laughed airily. “What is a little money between friends?” 

“You’re not my friend!” Edward howled. “You’re – you’re an ass! Give me my money! And get your paws off of Winry!” He slapped Ling’s hand. 

“Ed!” Winry snapped. “Don’t be such a jerk!” 

Garfiel kept his smile to himself. Young love, it was always so dramatic. 

X X X

Food finished, discussions over, they still hung out at the table, dirty dishes crowded together and leftover food still in the place of honor. Edward groaned from the second slice of pie, but didn’t push back from the table in defeat, instead, he picked off a bit of crust and ate that, too. 

Winry kicked him under the table. “Stop that.” 

He narrowed his eyes at her, and kicked her back with his flesh foot. “Make me.”

“It’s rude, Ed,” Alphonse said, sneaking his own bit of crust to nibble. 

“Not you, too, Al!” Winry glared at him. 

“I can’t help it, it’s so good.” He gave her a puppy look, making Winry melt. 

Edward sneered at them both, including Pinako in that glower. “It’s so good,” he mocked. 

“It is!” Alphonse finished off his bit of crust, reaching for another. 

Edward started to bat his hand away, and yipped when Winry’s toe collided with his shin. “The hell, Winry?” 

“Leave Al alone!” she said. 

Pinako hopped out of her chair as Edward hauled his foot back, aiming a kick at Winry. He screeched instead, his toes crashing into the leg of Pinako’s chair. Tipping out of his own seat, he rolled on the floor, cradling his bare foot. “You old hag! You planned that!” 

Standing over him, Pinako said, “Violence at the table makes for poor digestion.” With a wave at Alphonse, she cackled. “C’mon, Al, unless you want to watch these two keep playing footsie all night.” 

“Granny!” Winry screeched, turning bright red. 

Alphonse scrambled after Pinako. “Don’t forget about the dishes,” he added, hurrying out of the room as fast as his crutch could take him. 

Winry rolled her eyes, getting out of her chair and offering Edward her hand to help him up. “Dummy,” she said, but at least she said it fondly. 

Slapping his hand in hers, Edward let her pull him up, limping a little. He swore at the way his toes were already turning color. “I think I broke something!” 

“How hard were you going to kick me, anyway, Ed?” Winry picked up his raised foot, making Edward grab for the table and hop to keep his balance. She ran her fingers lightly over his toes. Edward jerked his foot reflexively, biting his lip to keep from giggling or screaming, he wasn’t sure which. “Better get some ice on it.” Dropping his foot, Winry nearly sent him sprawling again. 

“You’re so damned violent!” Edward snapped at her, as she rummaged in the ice box, chipping some ice free. 

“I’m violent? You’re the one who started kicking me!” Winry turned back to him, her free hand on her hip. 

“I did not!” Edward stabbed his finger at her. “You kicked me first!”

“You kicked _me_ first! You kicked me when we were kids! You always did – you kicked my chair when we were in class, and you kicked my ankles, and you stepped on the heels of my shoes and made me trip!” Even as she scolded, she wrapped the ice in a dish towel, pointing at the chair. 

Edward plopped down onto it, wincing out loud when Winry lifted his wounded foot and put it on another chair, draping the cold towel over his toes. Wriggling his toes carefully, Edward kept his gaze on them before saying, “I can’t believe you remember all that.”

Adjusting the towel, Winry nodded once in satisfaction. “Of course I do.” Her expression distant, she murmured, “I remember a lot of things.” She turned to Edward, lifting her shoulders, offering a half-smile. “It’s silly, I guess, but I can’t seem to let all my memories go.” Edward grabbed her hand when she started to reach across him for a dirty dish. Her eyebrows flew up, like the wings of a bird when he didn’t let go. “Ed?” 

He held on when she tugged, giving her a little tug in return, pulling her closer. Her wide eyes were so pretty, he thought, and confused. “Hey,” he said, “let’s make a new memory.” Before she could react, he stretched up to kiss her. 

X X X

“Mom! Mom! Simon’s kicking me!” 

“I am not!” Simon roared. “Becca’s lying!”

“I am not! You kicked me!”

Allie chimed in. “I saw! Simon kicked Becca!” 

“You did not, take it back!”

Winry scolded them. “All of you! Stop it now, or I’ll make you go to bed without supper!”

“I don’t want to eat with him,” Becca sniffed. “He kicks!”

“So does your father, Becca.” Winry rumpled her eldest daughter’s hair. “It’s called playing footsie, and that’s how I know he loves me.” 

The gagging sounds from the three kids made it all worth while. 

X X X

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Fullmetal Alchemist, Ed/Winry, feet touching under the table


End file.
